Murphy: Donegal raring to go

MICHAEL MURPHY holds his hand up. That’s him on Twitter — mmurphy95. The latest inter-county star to join the social networking phenomenon.

“Ay, it’s me,” he smiled. “I just went on it for a bit of nosiness more than anything, just a bit of craic.

“I need to be careful now what I’d be saying on it. There are a lot of people quoted here and there.”

Donegal boss Jimmy McGuinness doesn’t seem the type of guy who would disapprove of Murphy on Twitter.

It’s clear McGuinness has a lot of faith in the player as it seems the county have in the new manager after he led the U21 side to an Ulster title and an All-Ireland final last year.

“There is a lot of excitement in Donegal again,” said Murphy at a Puma event this week. “Unfortunately over the last three or four years we haven’t lived up to expectations. As a group of players we haven’t succeeded. So we are looking forward to another year and hopefully getting a bit of success and pride back in the Donegal jersey.”

Plagued with injuries during their McKenna Cup campaign, Murphy acknowledges preparations for their Allianz Division Two north-west derby against Sligo haven’t been great.

That being said, supporters recognise McGuinness as a man with a plan. His tactics with the U21s last year were a defensive departure for the county but nobody complained about the results they reaped. However, Murphy isn’t certain he will adopt the same style on the big stage.

“It’s hard to know. He worked a style around a group of players he had in front of him. At senior level with different players that might change, hopefully maybe evolve.”

Studying in DCU, Murphy admits the commute is more of an issue this year as he is captain. That there are a number of Donegal players based in Dublin and they organise their own training session eases his mind a bit.

However, his Sigerson Cup commitments this month will make it even more of a juggling act during the League.

He can’t understand why the premier third-level competition can’t be staged before Christmas when there would be no clash with inter-county games.

“It’s something we have been chatting about back at the house,” he said in reference to the DCU campus abode he shares with the likes of Roscommon’s Donie Shine, Dublin’s Paul Flynn and Westmeath’s Kieran Gavin.

“We can’t understand why the Sigerson cannot be run off before Christmas especially when there are no competitions being run then. It’s something that the GAA will probably look into. I think it would also give Sigerson Cup a bit more publicity too and give players a wee bit of downtime.”